New players and a new offensive scheme will bring with them growing pains.
Southern Utah University is experiencing those pains two games into the 2003 football season.
"It takes time," SUU coach Gary Andersen said. "It's a complex offense, and it's going to get better and better. It's going to revolve around the quarterback. We need to play better in all offensive positions."
A week after losing to Western Athletic Conference's Nevada, 24-23, the T-Birds had just 211 yards total offense and just three points in a 13-3 loss to Weber State University.
"We have about one third of the offense in what we want to run," Andersen said. "Right now, all we can handle is what he have in."
Quarterback Casey Rehrer completed just 15 of 44 passes for 130 yards in the loss to Weber State, and the T-Birds rushed for just 81 (Rehrer had 66).
"We struggled catching the football and throwing the football, and again we struggled rushing the football," Andersen said. "A lot of it we did to ourselves."
The T-Birds start eight players on each side of the football who had never played in a Division I football game until this season started.
"It's not an excuse, but we're feeling those pains," Andersen said. "We have to do the little things better, and that's going to make us a better football team . . . We are still definitely in a gigantic rebuilding mode with personnel and with our scheme."
The T-Birds host Stephen F. Austin in their first home game of the season Saturday at 7 p.m. at Eccles Coliseum in Cedar City.
E-MAIL: jhinton@desnews.com